New York (AFP)
Simona Halep, 13th in the world, is the first to qualify for the round of 16 of the US Open, after her victory 7-6 (13/11), 4-6, 6-3 at the expense of Elena Rybakina (20th), Friday in New York.
The 29-year-old Romanian, winner at Roland-Garros 2018 and Wimbledon 2019, had to fight for 2h25 minutes to overcome the Kazakhe, notably winning the tie-break of the first set which lasted 17 minutes, just after having broken his opponent.
She had a backlash in the next against Rybakina, revealed this year at Roland Garros where she reached the quarter-finals, before regaining the upper hand in the third round, taking advantage of an injury to the left foot of her young rival therefore seeming less mobile.
Halep, semi-finalist in 2015 at the US Open, will face in the next round the Ukrainian Elina Svitolina (5th) or the Russian Daria Kasatkina (27th).
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